In the lobby of the General's Mansion, I saw Wei Zhenghou sitting in the main seat with a serious face.

Five civil officials led by Wang Yang knelt directly in the middle of the lobby and said loudly: "The Xiaguan Taiyuan Prefecture General Wang Yang, Yangqu County Magistrate Zhang Jinwen..... I have met the Governor General..."

After carefully scanning the five civil servants in front of him, Wei Zheng waved his hand and said, "All of them are up and talking..."

"Governor Xie..."

After several people stood up from the ground with nervous expressions, they were just about to speak.

Wei Zheng, who was sitting in the main seat of the lobby, unexpectedly spoke first: "Sir, don't talk first. Before that, I would like to ask you to listen to something... Especially Lord Wang Yang and Wang, you are the magistrate of Taiyuan Prefecture, and you should listen carefully... After listening, I have any questions to ask you..."

After saying that, he directly ordered the guard behind him under Wushuang's gaze full of confusion.

"You can read the contents on the gift list to you all..."

"Yes, sir..."

The five eyes had just left Wei Zheng, and the personal guard standing beside Wei Zheng had already picked up a gift list and said.

"My dear sirs, after statistics, in just one hour, the General Office received a total of 950,000 taels of silver from officials at all levels of Taiyuan Prefecture. Among them, the most gifts from the magistrate of Jinzhong County, Lord Zhou, was sent by the entire 100,000 taels of silver..."

As the content of the gift list was read out bit by bit by bit by bit by bit by bit, the five people led by Wang Yang became more and more nervous.

Because, in their eyes, Wei Zheng read these things in front of them. His purpose was to demonstrate to them and question them. Why do others give money? But they didn’t...

However, what unexpectedly happened to them again was that after the personal guard read the gift list, Wei Zheng, who was sitting in the main seat, showed no sign of anger. Instead, he asked Wang Yang: "Mr. Wang, you are the magistrate of Taiyuan Prefecture, in charge of the money, grain, criminal law of Taiyuan Prefecture, and also have the responsibility to supervise the civil and military officials of Taiyuan Prefecture..."

"Tell me. Where did a small county magistrate come from? He could easily take out 100,000 taels of silver if he gave a gift... How much money does this Jinzhong county magistrate have at home? Where did the silver in his family come from?"

At this time, if Wang Yang still doesn't understand the real purpose of collecting cash in front of him, then Wang Yang's ten-year career as an official would be in vain.

Under Wei Zheng's gaze, he quickly fell to the ground and apologized loudly: "Please ask the Governor to sue him. All the officials are ineffective in supervision..."

"As far as the officials know, the reason why the Jinzhong County Magistrate has such a huge family fortune is at least half of the income he was corruption during his tenure... The business in Jinzhong County is very popular. As the Jinzhong County Magistrate, Lord Zhou can embezzle at least 100,000 taels of silver from commercial taxes every year, plus various smuggling income. Lord Zhou can make at least 200,000 taels of silver as the county magistrate every year."

"This is why Lord Zhou has been in Jinzhong for six years and still does not want to be promoted or transferred..."

"Not only that, these things have become well-known in the Shanxi officialdom. Everyone knows that being a county magistrate in Jinzhong County is better than being an ordinary magistrate..."

At this time, Wei Zheng, who looked serious, asked again: "Since this has become an open secret, as the magistrate of Taiyuan Prefecture, why don't you investigate him... let him continue to embezzle and make money in the position of Jinzhong County Magistrate..."

Facing Wei Zheng's sharp eyes at him, Wang Yang, who was upright, did not hide and answered in response to Wei Zheng's eyes: "Please ask the Governor to punish him. It is not that the officials do not want to investigate, but that the officials do not allow the officials to investigate Lord Zhou..."

"Although Lord Zhou is only a seventh-rank county magistrate, his relationship network is very deep..."

"Not only was the original Taiyuan prefect, the backstage of Lord Zhou, who prevented the officials from investigating him, but Lord Li, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue in the court, was also his backstage, and he personally sent someone to pass the message to the officials, and the officials were not allowed to investigate Lord Zhou..."

"The background is indeed deep enough... I really didn't expect that a small county magistrate would have such a big backstage. If this official had not expected it, whether it was the prefect of Taiyuan who had been beheaded or the Minister of Revenue Li in the capital, they were all fed by the county magistrate of Jinzhong with silver..." After some emotion, a hint of anger quickly appeared on Wei Zheng's face.

Then, he ordered Wang Yang in front of him with a cold face: "Mr. Wang, I don't care how big the backstage this Jinzhong County Magistrate has. Now, I order you to check him and I will serve as a backstage for you. Do you have the courage to..."

For Wang Yang, who has a straightforward personality, the one he dislikes the most is corrupt officials.

Therefore, Wei Zheng's order was exactly his appetite.

Of course, he was also very clear that once he accepted this order, it meant that he had offended the Minister of Revenue in the capital, and there was only one way to go towards the forefront of the wise army.

However, he did not regret it. Because, from Wei Zheng, he saw the same righteousness in the officialdom as himself. Even if he was in front of him and walked all the way to the dark, he would move forward without hesitation.

So, Wang Yang, who was staring at Wei Zheng, replied loudly after a little hesitation: "Please rest assured, there are already many evidences of Master Zhou's crimes of embezzlement and smuggling here. As long as the Governor ordered, Master Zhou could be arrested immediately, bring Lord Zhou to justice, and give the people in Jinzhong a Qingming Festival..."

Wei Zheng nodded with satisfaction, and did not give an answer immediately, but turned his attention to the four people behind Wang Yang.

With several people waiting with anxiety, Wei Zheng asked bluntly: "Others have given me money, but you guys are at the risk of offending me and don't give it. To a certain extent, it means that you are all honest officials in my Shanxi. As for those corrupt officials who don't take the money seriously, you are even more admirable to me.

"However, in order to get the recognition of our official, although honest officials are very important, their ability is also very important."

"Next, I will test you a few..."

"You are all county magistrates of the same county, and you should be very clear about the situation within your jurisdiction... I ask you, how many households, people, how many fertile land are there in your jurisdiction, and how much tax is there every year... In addition, in the case of drought every year, how many lands in the county can produce grain, and how many people need government assistance..."

Not disappointing Wei Zheng's expectations, among the four county magistrates, except for one older county magistrate who answered a little hesitantly, the other three people said the numbers that had been deeply imprinted in their minds as if they were endorsing their letters.

From these data, Wei Zheng clearly felt that the various problems brought to him by the drought in Taiyuan Prefecture were far beyond his imagination. However, problems are expensive, and for Wei Zheng, there is not no good news...

These officials in front of you who are both honest and capable are the best gains for you tonight.

Although I don’t know how many of these people can become their confidants in the end, with their ability, at least they can help manage the place before they turn against the court.

So Wei Zheng once again showed a satisfied smile on his face.

Not only that, Wei Zheng also had specific ideas and decisions about where these people were going.

Under the five eyes, Wei Zheng replied loudly: "Very good, I am very satisfied with your performance..."

"I am here to give you a guarantee that as long as you are willing to serve for me, you can keep yourself clean and be a good official in any position. Your future is absolutely limitless, and it is not impossible to be named a marquis and a prime minister."

Faced with Wei Zheng's very explicit appeal, five different expressions appeared on the five people's faces.

Just when Wang Yang, who had already made the decision to follow Wei Zheng, wanted to express his determination, Wei Zheng said again: "I decided that when Taiyuan Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture are vacant, Taiyuan Prefecture's magistrate Wang Yang and Wang will temporarily take over the position of Taiyuan Prefecture. I will personally write a memorial to the court and ask the court to appoint you as the fourth-rank Taiyuan Prefecture..."

After listening to Wei Zheng's order, Wang Yang's first thought was: "It is correct to choose the right decision to follow Wei Zheng in front of him... Otherwise, he would not have jumped from the fifth-rank Taiyuan Prefecture magistrate of the court at this time and became the fourth-rank Taiyuan Prefecture of the court... "

After his calm face was quickly covered by excitement, he promised loudly to Wei Zheng: "Please rest assured, the Governor General, the Governor General, and the Governor General, will live up to the high expectations of the Governor General, and be the governor General well, and swear to be loyal to the Governor General to the death... As long as the Governor General has a decree, even if the Governor General is in trouble, the Governor General will remain unwilling to do so..."

"Very good..." After hearing Wang Yang's decision to be loyal to him, Wei Zheng's satisfied smile became even stronger.

After a change of topic, he continued to appoint Zhang Jinwen, the magistrate of Yangqu County behind Wang Yang...

"Mr. Zhang, as far as I know, you have served as the county magistrate. The responsibilities of the Tongzhi of Taiyuan Prefecture are almost no different from those of the county magistrate... Since you have made many achievements in the position of the County magistrate of Yangqu County, I will appoint you to temporarily serve as the Tongzhi of Taiyuan Prefecture. After I report to the court, I will give you the official appointment document of the court..."

For local officials like Zhang Jinwen who have no backstage and have gotten up step by step through his own efforts, it is more difficult to continue to be promoted and show their ambitions in the officialdom.

However, Wei Zheng in front of him not only valued himself, but also made him leap to level 4, and directly changed from a seventh-rank county magistrate to a fifth-rank magistrate. For Zhang Jinwen, reusing his own Wei Zheng is tantamount to his reborn parents.
Chapter completed!